Golf in Bermuda: A good walk ... made better

Hamilton, Bermuda– I am cutting through the back lobby of the Fairmont Hamilton Princess, rushing to catch a shuttle boat to the golf course at the Southampton, when I bumped into one of my writing heroes.

Hamilton, Bermuda–I am cutting through the back lobby of the Fairmont Hamilton Princess, rushing to catch a shuttle boat to the golf course at the Southampton, when I bumped into one of my writing heroes.

There, lounging on a teak bench, soaking up the sun, is Mark Twain, or at least a full-sized bronze statue of Twain. The creator of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn made frequent trips to Bermuda and often stayed at the Princess, where he'd shoot pool and shoot the breeze with friends and admirers.

"You can go to heaven if you like," pronounced Twain, "I'm staying in Bermuda."

But the literary giant wasn't quite so complimentary about golf which he once described as, "A good walk spoiled."

With respect to Twain, there is nothing spoiled about golf in the place that he called the "Happy Island."

With eight courses, Bermuda boasts more golf per square kilometre than any other country in the world. More impressively, Bermuda has more golf courses than fast food outlets.

The place to start any golf trip to Bermuda is the Port Royal Golf Club, the government-owned layout that was designed by Robert Trent Jones.

Jack Nicklaus once called Port Royal the best public golf course in the world and it recently got even better with new turf and tees and the addition of an extra 281 yards.

You will especially notice the difference on the 16th hole, a par-3 that now plays a staggering 238 yards from the tips with a green that hangs out over the very edge of Whale Bay. When the wind is up, the 16th may well be the hardest hole in golf.

Not far away is the Fairmont Southampton Princess. It is an 18-hole, 2,684-yard, par-3 course that rolls to the edge of Gibbs Lighthouse, the highest point in Bermuda, and then bends down to the ocean and up past the impossibly pink hotel.

Some golfers turn up their noses at short courses, but the Princess has something for everyone. There are ponds and bunkers and big-league changes in elevations – the first two holes alone drop nearly 70 metres.

The one must-play for hard-core golfers is Mid Ocean, a private club that is annually ranked in the world's top 100 courses.

Among its members are Oscar winner and golf nut Michael Douglas, who owns a home with wife Catherine Zeta-Jones in the Parish of Warwick. (Most hotels can wangle tee times for their guests at Mid Ocean on weekday afternoons.)

Mid Ocean rises and falls along a bluff that is perched above Tucker's Town, the toniest address in Bermuda. Residents here include media billionaires/politicians like Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Keep an eye out for the fifth hole where sluggers ranging from Babe Ruth to John Daly have unsuccessfully attempted to grip it and rip it across the dogleg and Mangrove Lake.

After the round, have a stroll around the pink-and-white clubhouse, which has doubled as a meeting place for politicians. Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lester Pearson have all sat around Mid Ocean's richly lacquered tables.

Shoppers in the group will want to check out the string of pastel-shaded stores that line Front St. in Hamilton. My favourite is Archie Brown and Son. The store is a sort of Fort Knox of the sweater world – its basement reputedly holds nearly 30,000 of the world's finest pure wool sweaters and just about any other product that comes in plaid.

Lovers of rum will make a beeline for Goslings, where the 200-year-old, family-owned firm produces the island's most popular drink, Black Seal Rum, the key ingredient for Rum Swizzles and Dark 'n' Stormies.

And don't be afraid to show a little leg on the island.

Blue blazers and peach-coloured Bermuda shorts are still a must among the business class. Just remember not to reveal too much skin – they should never rise more than five centimetres above the knee.

The winter season is an especially good time to take your game to Bermuda. November to March is the islands' off season and the cruise ships have all headed south, so the courses are less crowded, accommodation is less expensive and the shops in Hamilton and St. George clear their shelves with winter sales.

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